I run from social obligations all the time, despite my foray into art producing and attending a copious amount of art events. I won’t go into detail, but let’s just say that the past two weekends have ended pretty pitifully. I can’t even work up enough courage to attend a party for the sake of a show. I did make it as far as the front door of Equinox this past Saturday. There were a ton of people, a binfire outside, and it looked pretty cool.

I noticed some of the exhibit was indoor/outdoor. I’m not sure what I was expecting, I definitely wasn’t dressed for it. I still dress like a Californian after living in Seattle for 4+ years. What can I say, I like to dress up. I wouldn’t dream of wearing jeans and fleece to an art opening. But that’s just me. The fact that it was snowing and I wasn’t dressed for it and the exhibit was going to close in 30 minutes convinced me to get home. Its 18 degrees today and still icy out there, but I should have taken one for the team and just went in. I’m just not used to the partying/socializing. The cameras and crew have become somewhat of a crutch of mine. Next week, it will be a top hat in addition to the Canon.

The public phase of this daily blog was launched on November 24, 2008. I’d been blogging for the previous year on the show’s myspace page. I also integreated a previous blog into this to show how much my life has changed since embarking upon the art journey. Its a big part of my world, and the new face of the show. So we hope you will subscribe to our blog.

This is in fact, a daily blog. It is trying to be, anyhow. This week I missed my first day since starting it. A cold this week hindered my writing efforts this week. Don’t believe anyone when they tell you that blogging isn’t a full time job. If you have a daily blog, and you haven’t updated it, you think about it all day.

The travails of con-artists is not a topic I think my discerning audience would be interested in, but I would say 20% of the artists alerts I get are breaking news stories on notorious deceivers. Why is it that deceit is an adjective which can only be exclusively attached to the word art. I’m just being silly. :->

I’d like to do more of the vlog (video log) but I don’t want to start releasing a bunch of unproduced 1 camera hand held video, compelling as the artist or your Humble Host may be. A lot of the footage I shoot is incorporated into into future pieces. Every shoot builds on a large peice, so these are mini documentaries in the making. A lot of work, but a lot of fun.

Village Savant is one of those blogs that I stumble onto while doing an image search or through some other random avenue. It looks like a nifty blog. Other blog entries I read, and I can’t say that it helps me understand art better. It doesn’t mean that the authors’ personal opinion isn’t valid, its just that sometimes too much conjecture can muddle things a bit. We’re not all art history major, so we have to give our audience something they can understand. I’ll explain more on how Dr. JohnnyWOW! successfully broke through a barrier to the audience. Granted, their attention spans didn’t hold longer than a few minutes, but they were engaged and reacting while they were there. I wish I had a second camera to record the audience while I was busy filming the doctor.

Even if I don’t have time to look at the story, I do look at most of the alerts I get. One of the things I find so interesting is about all the different topics people choose to blog on. The art blogs interest me of course, and the more niche they are, the more novel I find them. There’s some pretty cool stuff out there, like this blog on Obama Art. I’ve seen Barack Obama poster but a blog actually devoted to the realm of art about the President Elect definitely got my attention.

Joanne Mattera had a blog post with some reflections on Miami Art Basel, and I got a chuckle out of her blog. I find her art commentary to be to the point and humorous. Check it out if you haven’t already. The Huffington Post published an article with few words and a lot of photos called, :Reflections of Art Basel:. I’m sure it was an exhausting week, but it would have nice to include a snippet of some interesting conversation or something. The pics are cool but I’m not clear what the reflections were of, there’s not much commentary.I’m ok with just photo blog entries, but I like to see either just pics or some informational commentary to go with the pics. This is another blog that fell short on its art basel reporting. It seems like a strange trend, but it definitely illustrates the range of coverage on a given topic.

On the MarketWatch website of all places, I found information on the first public art project to use solar energy. I like little offbeat tidbits like that. California isn’t the only state where Art is intersecting with public life, Arizona too, is learning that there are ways to integrate art into the community.

It’ll be interesting when I compile the list of blogs I link back to for my own records. I would say at least a third aren’t art blogs. Hope you enjoy the variety of info, I do. I wasn’t sure whether to tweet or to blog about this strange art project, in which messages are sent to twitter when the baby kicks. Strange, isn’t it?

If I were in England,I should very much like to attend this event, a discussion on the value of Contemporary Art. With all the speculation that went on about sales at Art Basel Miami Beach, any collector or artist would find listening to this discussion worthwhile.

This blog, Grinding, is totally out there and I completely love it. The pics, how I wasn’t sure if it was an art blog in the first place, its all very cool. Culture Soak is another fun Art & Design website. Today they posted an article on a book about Emerging Contemporary Artists. It would be nice to get my hands on one.

I blogged about Macao and the Contemporary Art there, and noticed some other articles about Indian Art that I wanted to include. Art Market Monitor also posted some interesting comments regarding an Indian Artist and the collectors of his work. I might have a slighty sour tone in some of my art reporting, but its nothing like this scathing commentary on an Indian Art exhibit. Ouch. Does it really help an artist to be so cruel?

Street Art was a hitherto unknown art form upon starting this new segment of the blog. In Vallejo, California, a store selling graffiti supplies next to a graffiti art gallery is evidence that Street Art is definitely on the radar. There’s this discussion about whether or not Street Art is accepted in the larger art community. I would say that as much as I have read about it in the past three weeks that street art has nothing to worry about.

I hope that I attract a wide variety of art lovers with many differing tastes, who all find enjoyment in the semi-coherent chatter I publish daily. I know a lot of you read or have visited many of the majoy art sites, I hope I can give you something new in the little goodies I find on the web. I don’t remember if I was doing a google image search or what, but this site was kinda cool. I’m not sure what the criteria is to make it on this virtual map, but it might be useful to some. You click on the little tags and it will tell you about current shows that are going on all over the US. I have heard about the Eventful website in the past, but I was surprised when one of my image searches led me to this website, which listed a lot of current art events in and around Miami and Palm Beach, which I just discovered is home to yet another sumptuous art gathering, the Palm Beach Contemporary Art Fair.

Google Earth Image of Palm Beach

In the past, I have known people who have been proponents on culling the less than intelligent portion of the population. Such an attitude is not going to win you followers! Better yet, lets raise the bar for readers and other art bloggers. Out of left field, came one of the most comprehensive and meaningful bits of writing about the week at Art Basel came across my virtual desk. While I had to wonder what might have motivated this well-thought out piece of writing, I had to appreciate it. I am blogging on a subject that is relatively new to me so I enjoyed this as I would a fresh Braeburn apple, and I savored every bite. Either I am not searching in the right places, because there are some art bloggers are offering us something more substantial than tasty but unfulfilling art hors d’oeuvres. Your humble host included. :-p Who know that men.style.com would have one the best blog entries on art basel miami beach I have read all week. This guy doesn’t mince any words, and his entry is humorous and well-written. Loved it.

In my wanderings along the shore, I overturned a stone and discovered this contemporary art blog. Another facet, how interesting. This person is a speculative collector, and unfortunately, he only updates his blog once a month. I’d like to see more. Art as Authority is another obscure blog that caught my attention, but sadly, this one isn’t updated much either. Looks funky, check it out.

I stumbled upon Wynnwood Art Magazine today, it offered a neutral rundown of events, decorated with praise for this annual fair. I learned something else new today. Having lived in San Francisco for six years, I remember seeing a lot of guerilla marketing. When I was younger I didn’t know how to discern between public art and advertising, I guess you won’t know unless you know who created the images. I saw a lot of stickers and spray painting in random places of an image inside a star, and one word: OBEY. He likes to party down with SuperTouch Art. Slowly, the peices of the puzzle are coming together. Digging around for images of the OBEY public art, I stumbled upon this pretty cool blog on public/street art with tons of cool photos – Global Graphica. GraffHead is of a similar vein, but this blog covers other topics, like fashion and music. Hey, this is fun!

This blog and foray into art has been a learning process, and I’ve blogged a few times about Street Art, because its the sort of emerging art form we enjoy. This entry didn’t clarify anything about the subject for me, so I’ll have to keep my eyes and ears open. In my image searches I find pretty cool things too that were related to Art Basel Miami Beach, like this photojournalist’s blog, Digital Light. There is something very immediately engaging about his pictures. I wonder if he ever attended Miami Art Basel. Check out his blog.

Photo from GraffHead

During the week, the daily blog is a bit of a production, it can take an hour and that’s if I’m not distracted by 20 different things and even more alerts that come in as I write. I’ll be sitting there doing my daily blog, and my blackberry will start buzzing, and 3 out of 5 times its some news alert that has to do with art or basel or contemporary something or other. Or as in the case tonight, I am capturing video for my next vlog and I’m trying not to get off track. This will be a 2 blog day, since the vlog is the hot new thing. And we’re hot, so of course we will vlog.

Meaningfully. On things other than Miami Art Basel. In the next post.

So yes, I’ve been sick as a dog for three days straight and have blogged daily. Being hungover/tired is no excuse either. I am dedicated! :-> Now this new post on the Soul of Miami website has an event that might offer up some more substantial fare. Then I read the tag words “high-profile”, “VIP”, and “Exclusive” on its website as it describes it attendees and events, and I fear this is just a tiny art predator in the making. The Palm Beach fair has been around 12 years, and this is the first I’ve heard of it. I learn something new every day! This fair focuses primarily on Miami and New York collectors and artists, as well as some international exhibitors. I only saw two galleries from Santa Fe, a a few from California even represented in their list. The Northwest did not make it onto their radar. Perhaps we can help remedy that!

Before you mistake me, and wonder why I am championing the cause of art in the west, let me say that while I have spent the majority of my life on the east coast, I focus on artists on the west as a theme for pioneering, and now expand that to any coastal city near water or a beach. SEA SHOW is about the confluence of art & life, art & the myriad things that form modern life, and the beauty that ensues when those elements combine. It contributes to my happiness immensely!

I’ve never spent a week reporting on an event, but I am glad I spent a week doing it, it was a exercise in journalistic bravery. If you know how to scan the web efficiently, can recognize an article posing as a thinly veiled advertisement, and know how to assemble words in an engaging fashion, it is possible to do reporting when you’re not actually at an event.

Style Mag for example, used this week as an opportunity to make a special issue just for Miami Art Basel. We can’t blame them for wanting to capitalize on the event like everyone else is doing, but a more in-depth article with some images from the magazine would have been nice. Globatron was one of those magazines where my initial impression was intrigue, which was only heightened by my discovery that this is the website of a masked art critic. He was at Art Basel and has a ton of photos to show us. Was he masked during the fair? Does he not know anyone in the art world? Interesting questions to ponder.

I found some video from Art Basel Miami Beach on the Globatron website, and I couldn’t get through this video without laughing. I’m not even going to comment on the videograhy/inteview, its just not fair, since not everyone is as good as we are. Also, I’m a comedian at heart, so I find many things funny. I may make fun of something, but its only because I like to see humor in a situation and usually its the first thing that comes to my mind. In the beginning of the video is an interviewer with a gentleman wearing dark sunglass and whose voice is cracking from what might be too much shouting at a noisy party the night before. I’m just guessing thought. You be the judge.

Numbers are important, so the slew of articles I’ve seen today on Art Basel Miami Beach were more numerous than any other day this week. Maybe some were too busy assessing the facts on the ground before writing, wanted to read all the news about it before chiming in, or simply not including the right keywords. Either way, there is a lot for me to show you today. I’m sorry if you’ve had your fill I was going to go back to the interesting reporting I was doing on other subjects, but there was too much to not do a wrap up.

The New York mag article expressed its disdain for the lack of excess at this years parties, particular ones which are known for their lavish nature, were not up to this reviewers’ discerning tastes. Apparently they would like to see larger piles of lobsters on ice, or perhaps I interpreted the article incorrectly.

While at some point we would love to sell advertising and form partnerships with other art groups, my reporting is completely biased and based on my personal opinion. On the other hand, I’m sure the Miami Herald would love to see more action, visitors, and things to report on so their overall analysis was middle of the road and seemed in line with the public persona Art Basel wanted to maintain. I may be presumptuous but any writer knows, you need to have an opinion. Don’t hold it against me if you don’t happen to like mine, I’m just playing by the rules. Sorta.

I couldn’t help but chuckle when I started reading this entry in BlackBook. This person had a good time and say there are opportunity for artists at Art Basel. But of course! I don’t think anyone ever said there wasn’t. Getting there, or into a major gallery in order to be a part of it is an entirely different story. Let’s tell the whole story before we start calling anyone a hater. I like the variety of opinions, its made the week so spicy! My only question is, Would I be considered a hater?

The bloggers at Flavorwire aren’t the only ones who are die hard attendees of Art Basel Miami Beach 2008, they obviously get around, and know how to work it, giving the obligatory shout outs to the people they perhaps got business cards from and just had to include in their blog. Nice pics. Also they were complaining that they were too busy partying to get up early Friday and didn’t get to swim in the beach every morning they were there. Boo Hoo.

I was excited to hear about artwork from the Northwest respresented there this week by some artists from Portland, even if you did have to go off the beaten path to find it.

Interestingly, so many of the references I find in my as-it-breaks art alert are taking me to financial sites, I end up reading strange documents about the long-term viability of Turkish Painting as an investment, or the strange hotel industry web sites that are reporting on the secondary effects felt on the tourism industry when an event like Miami Art Basel manages to avoid straining its already wide financial girth. Its no secret that wherever Art Basel goes, collectors and their whimsy will follow. Gridskipper is a travel site but has a nice Art Basel guide with maps and tons of info, a nice refreshing treatment of the events.

I’d been coming across articles about the new Frost Museum more than once in the past week, but its popped up enough times that I have to mention it once more. If you want to go see the new museum along with all the other strange shiny things to enjoy in Miami during Art Basel 2008, check out this article on Examiner.com for info on the events and how you can get there via shuttles this week. Her partner at the Examiner is also covering the event.

This photo could be something out of Miami Art Basel. These colorful characters were on hand last night at 619 Western, where SEA SHOW artist Dr. JohnnyWOW! was showing, as were scores of other attractive young art zombies. It was a good time, so I’ll be sure to blog about it very soon! There are a lot of good looking people, but sometimes I wonder if the Art Basel Miami Beach is like the artwalk, lots of traffic, little substance. Some of us here in Seattle are fighting the good fight, perhaps its not a bleak as it seems.

Photo by Tim V.

With so much conflicting information about the Contemporary Art World, I’m afraid your humble host can be of no help. I can only offer you information that seems to discredit other forecasts and impressions of the market for Contemporary Art. Like the record sale of a Suerat, conflicting with the latest statistics from Sotheby’s about sales trends in the Contemporary Art market.

Those that have the means will undoubtedly make the trip to Miami to be a part of a year of flux for an Contemporary Art market which seems just as incomprehensible as some of its visions. Its a smart time to travel, especially from Europe, so smart collectors undoubtedly factored all these elements in and likely decided to attend the Miami Art Basel.

Smart collectors know that there will be some great art on hand. If they have the time and opportunity, they will come here to seek that art and be a part of a scene that repeats itself year after year. Its like all my tech friends and MacWorld, they can’t resist.

The sheer variety of links I see daily really make the who blogging process pretty fun and easy! I’m committed to it, so its a matter of deciding what amuses or interests me the most, and passing it onto you! That’s right, you too can experience the shimmering effulgence. This is an art blog, so I can be a little creative, right?

Everyone is reporting on Art Basel, from news about the parties, to celebrities that were seen out and about, the buyers attitudes, you can practically blog about a dozen or more topics related to this event and not cover it all. The possibilities are endless.

Art by Naoto Hattori

This week we want some structure, so its going to be all Art Basel, all the time, but for just this week. See it through the eyes of a visitor of who revels in the convergence of art and luxury in his blog. I am not promoting any particular links or sites or events, just trying to give you a variety of information, choices, and pretty pictures for your delight.

I really like the SuperTouch site, so much that I have to restrain myself from including links all the time. I like the art in this show, because its fun and colorful and so am I, but for some reason the pics are grainy. That’s no fun. Check out another cool blog with info on the paintings Marilyn Manson is displaying.

While I normally think an artist is no longer undiscovered when the local media picks up on it, I am nontheless intrigued by this CasaLin, which is a private property that has a portion designated as an art gallery.

As I had mentioned before, anything that involves forging into new art territory, melding forms, blurring lines, that’s where I want to be. This won’t be the last time you hear one of my many mantras. One of my other is simply, Support the Arts! Which of course we love to do. Which also leads to the fringe artist feeling of fascination and revulsion at what the art world is today, its essence personified in Miami Art Basel. Granted, this is an international event which I have never attended in any continent, so admire me for my guileless efforts, or illuminate me so that I can offer more concise rambles.

Let me assure you, my intentions are honorable and my blogs are far from scathing. If you’re as smart as I know you are, you’ll understand and hopefully be invoked to think or act about art! :->

So surely the investors have been doing their work today and are aware of or attended the art sales held at Sotheby’s, they know that there are still big sales being made but that this is a pivotal year for Contemporary Art, so this only adds to the intrigue that is fermented at this event.

If the radio and blog updates just aren’t giving you enough of what you need, thing being art basel, you can check out some video. This is an oft-visited site I’m sure, but its new to me, and on my radar. Looks interesting.

Aside from a usual run down of events going on this weekend, I must say I am surprised to find out that some think that my daily coverage of Art Basel is from first hand experience?

Yes, some kind souls reached out to me after hearing my anguished words of truth. Karma, in an ocean of joy. I will definitely to keep an eye on other reporters from Seattle in their adventures in Art Basel Miami Beach 2008! SlamHype is an art & music blog I’ve noticed recently, they like SuperTouch too but I like the diverse effort on this site, it has random goodies about Art Basel and links to music. Again, not a lot of time to check out a ton of the links, but it looked good from what I saw.

From when I heard about this event, I wanted it for artists that have opened their art to our organization, and my blog this week is my way of touching the event on behalf of those awesome artists I work with. I hate to disappoint my readers, but your jet-setting author does not have Miami Art Basel on her social calendar this week. I do have up to the moment updates on articles related to the event and modern art that I see throughout the day, so I hope I have my finger on a current that is helpful and interesting to my readers and artists I work with.

Let me briefly diverge from Art Basel to give you an update on an ongoing saga that the art world in America has been watching closely. We had news of an announcement a week ago about the bailout, and ever since then the art world has been waiting for news about the fate of Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art. The stalemate in a descision to accept the gift has prompted the donor of the gift to try to reassure the museum. As we wait for other potential donors to step forward, you can be sure that however this art drama resolves, it will be interesting.

What do you think about our Art Basel coverage? Am I onto something? Are you bored yet? The blog overall? Email the author, and tell us how you feel, or give us a hi-5 with an encouraging comment! We like you too.

My next post will have some images and video from my night at artwalk.

Today is the official opening of Miami Art Basel. Forecast : tepid art sales and winds out of the northwest.

I really like some of the cool blogs that come through the inbox with up to date images and blogs from this years’ art Basel. I don’t always get a chance to open the link when I get it, so I see it twice, and when I get to a computer, I can check it out if it catches my eye.

I’ve decided to hit you with the day by day play of all interesting things related to Miami Art Basel. Its only a week, so it won’t be that bad. And it’ll be interspersed with other art stuff and the musings of my day to day life.

While I can’t say that I find some of the coverage on the online version of the New York Mag to be terribly compelling, it appears that they will be posting frequently, and there are good photos if you like pretty pictures, so you can check in here for ongoing rundown of the major events. But we have way more interesting sources than this. This will be a fun week. Some websites do a better job than others at giving you a good run-down of events.

When I’m not passing over articles that are little more than tourism ads and coverage on the lavish fashion shows and over the top parties that accompany this week in Miami Beach, I stumble across nifty little sites like Art Lurker, a contemporary art blog from none other than Miami! The current article definitely caught my eye, because the artist he is featuring has some art that borders on being architecture pieces, and in some cases are hard to discern from a part of the environment. Does that price of the art come with installing? ;->

This is another example of a major newspaper publishing less-than-exceptional writing and commentary, but its still entertaining. Is some of the art coverage supposed to be like 80s clothes? So bad its good?

If you’ve been following this event for some time and have never attending, wishing you could clad yourself in white and go find the trendiest people in town, fear not, because these pages will give you an idea of what happens every year, so you can plan what sort of Miami Art Basel you can enjoy.There are plenty of local blogs you can check out if you’re not sure what’s good and want to hit the best restaurants and bars, knowing what to expect ahead of time. Many restaurants and hotels want to make the most of this week to energize their opening.

Thankfully, the fair has attracted enough fanfare that you can find some curious and hopefully irresistible art, people and experiences. Perhaps, one day, our artists or your humble host can enjoy such a pleasure?

One of the odder things I came across was a sand castle, but no mention of an artist. Granted, Hotel Chatter is not an art site, but even the internet is picking up on the flurry of action generated by this katamari known at Miami Art Basel. Luckily, I was able to come across info on the artist on another site. The alcohol soaked art lovers are going to have a hard time discerning between art and fluff already, I think this will only add to the confusion, but will invariably draw a crowd.

I’m not an art expert to know everything but I usually do have an opinion on those things I do know! I feel passionately about art, and I hope I can focus on that more than the forces that oppose its creation and enjoyment. I decided to get a book on Modern Art, so that I could view art from the objective standpoint, and last night I was reading about subjectivity in an introduction to the subject in this very respected book on Modern Art, which is followed by some letters or commentary by the artist in question, and what it means. Its interesting because I wasn’t aware of the term, but I understood what artists like Gauguin and Cezanne did in their treatment of innocuous concepts, peasants in a field, the pattern of a tropical sarong on an exotic Venus.

I read some of these comments on art, and I wonder where the cumulative effect of the history of art is in this contemporary world.

Consider the possibilities what this art fair could mean without the distractions. Why not a roundtable discussion on art? Lectures, really critical discussion? I would love to venture such a discussion in a place where so many creative minds are gathered.

GuaguinSelf Portait

I’m the last one to comment on what a museum director might have to say to help you interpret the events at Miami Art Basel, so you can read it for yourself and decide. Even restaurants are getting in the fun, sporting Art Basel themed cocktails. You will be supporting a good cause if you buy the book mentioned in the article, so check it out!

Miami New Times has an online blog that shows us the future of what the streets will look like during Miami Art Basel. As if you weren’t already surrounded by enough that was Basel, this will take it to that new, scary level.

These signs/art would compete with all the other art and art related things vying for your attention. The art ubiquitous, really bright and frankly, a little scary. Do they need to put one on every single lightpost? I think the overall concept is ok, but the number of them would be too much, It would only add the Las Vegas-like atmosphere that pervades the city during this momentous week.

I got a breaking news release on the future of Art Basel Miami Beach and its location for the next three years. What city will it go to next?

Welcome to my nightmare is a fitting name the latest entry in a very intellectual art blog. The sheer number of links makes it mention worthy of inclusion. If it gets my attention, you will hear about it! I blogged about art radio at Art Basel, and found more than one other entry about it, for those of you that just can’t get enough, and need it now. If I can find time I will listen to some of the radio on art basel, and will also be checking into this blog for updates, the authors are from LA, we’ll see what they have to say!

In 24 hours, I will be enjoying an arte event as well, but it will be of a more subdued nature. I plan to really enjoy it.

I thought that this was a pretty sad article. When all I read about Miami Art Basel and its elegant gleam, to come across an artist who poured time and effort into fundraising an installation peice. When you have that much extravgance in the area related to arts in the area year after year, it really makes you wonder why there aren’t more resources to support local artists who would like to be a part of the experience and don’t have the opportunities to be a part of Art Basel.

Art By Edwin Ushiro

While I have read and heard many different things about this imminent event, it makes it more challenging to come to a definitive conclusion about what role it plays in the art world, and what the future of Contemporary Art is going to look like. Are events like Miami art basel the reason we don’t see art movements have the impact and clarity they used to? Where are the schools of artists?

I came across an article on Modgiliani in an older issue of Smithsonian magazine on my bookshelf that I hadn’t read yet. Reading about his short but passionate life, it enriched my understanding of art during that time. He was inspired by african sculpture, like Picasso was to have famously, taking it even further with explorations into cubism.

After high school, I read practically every book on impressionism and post-impressionism in the library of the town I grew up in. Reading books on Gauguin, Picasso, Degas, Cezanne, Renior, Manet, and Monet, all of those collective tales and artists influence on one another, vital places like the south of france, all of these places and events gave rise to movements. These artist mentored, competed, and were influenced by one another. An aritsts work evolves in response to more than individual perceptions, but also to their place and time in art history, his surroundings, and his feelings about art. Where does that alchemy exist today, and what is the related art movement(s)? These are some of the questions I explore in my art show.

While there was only a snippet about anything Basel related in this post, I thought it was an interesting enough rant to include.

Coincidentally, I caught wind of one of these events through one of my Basel tagged news article. I am most intrigued by a band that wants to keep its obscurity. While I am far from achieving enough fame to not have to promote my causes, I understand what might compel one to withdraw. In this world where you can find something about practically anything on the internet, this band’s reclusive nature only intrigues me more. And they’ll be playing a gig at Miami Art Basel 2008. I can’t hold down a lot of PBR but these guys look like they would be fun to hang out with.

Another band I feel that way about is the Klaxons. The maverick delights of these fellows are too many for me to name here. I purchased tickets to both of their shows in Seattle last year, one at the Showbox Sodo and the april show at the Crocodile, which I had never been to. I finally shot a performance there in August 2007 with Sir Mark the Poet.

Since I never have a date, I had to try to find someone to go with me at the last minute and they flaked. The other time, I hadn’t been to the venue and can feel nervous alone in a bar if I can’t hide behind my camera and crew. I hate to have to resort to premature departures. I hope to see them one day.

So every since about a year ago, when I naive and wandering confidently into this art fracas, I wanted to seek out the best opportunity for the artists I work with. In earnest, I began some research into the “Contemporary” Art world. Its not modern art people, that term is SO 90s.

Last December, the Smithsonian Magazine ran an interesting article about this event. It looked titillating, and a perfect opportunity to showcase my voice. Wanting to give the underrepresented artists I have been working with this past year, I was intrigued when I read about Miami Art Basel in the December issue. After reading the article, I had the impression that it was a hub of excitement and opportunity for cutting edge artists, since its a show featuring Contemporary Art.

When I saw that 3 billion dollars of art changes hands in the bacchanal that is Miami Art Basel 2008, I thought, now here is an opportunity to express some amazing art to the world. I have had boundless success in finding artists, having shows, networking, etc. Why should this be any different?

I posted on craigslist because I knew there had to be some local artists that had participated in this or knew someone that had. A helpful soul offered up some advice, that there’s no chance of exhibiting at Basel if you hadn’t had a national show at a respected gallery. My heart sank when I read his letter, and it opened my eyes.

Granted, Seattle is not exactly a hub of art, as I so naively described a year ago, but artists, and the future of art thrives here. When I moved here, I was cool enough to make friends as a Seattelite but I specifically came here for its low rent, small town ways. Seattle in 2003 was still pretty cool, a cheap place to live, and the arts and music thriving.

In the few short years that I have lived here, we’ve had construction that is on par with the sort of development you would feel in a third world country, rents have skyrocketed, and our state budget now has a 5 billion dollar shortfall.

Artists I know and work with personally are literally on the edge in so many ways. I wonder what will happen to 619 western when the lease runs out in 2012? Life in Seattle is a rude awakening. Grey weather, heavy traffic, commercialism, a cold and indifferent air in the society, we face the cold harsh reality of the struggle of art daily.

Why is so hard for people to forget the stark picture of the artist who had to reuse canvases in order to paint? An an early artist Picasso and many of his friends I’m sure racked up enormous debt to local merchants so that they could spend all their spare time and energy as artists. That’s the struggle and the beauty that this early was imbued with. Art that is now priceless, is much more so because of the artist’s struggle to create that they experience in the context of their everyday creation.

Here is the roundup of breaking news from what I have recieved in the past 48 hours about Art Basel 2008 Miami Beach and related events, some of which look very promising for us aspiring art beings who can only dream of participating in such an exclusive event. There are some, who like many in Seattle, have no comment about the whole art situation.

Here is an article that talks about how you can see underrepresented artists in the nearby art quarter, Lincoln Avenue, who galleries are surely seeing more discerning art figures than we could ask for in our art-challenged city.

Soul of Miami website has info on the Green Art Fair. Being eco-friendly is all the rage so its important to keep this event going.

A gallery from the United Arab Emirates will be featured at Art Basel, they sound like a gallery that’s doing work in their community aside from art shows so here is to them.

Its wonderful that art still has so much potential and relevance in today’s society. My passion, lies, however, in the creative person that thrives on instinct, whose need to create is irresistible, whose joy in expression I take such delight in. While I love the art world and all it represents, my motivating force is a powerful need to do what’s right and help creative souls. I admire the beauty and strangeness of thier efforts to live the art life (arte vivant) however possible, and what little I may contribute I hope only adds to the wonder of that experience.